Eagles surge after halftime, sweep season series from Wingate
January 23, 2021

Eagles surge after halftime, sweep season series from Wingate

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Bolstered by a 9-0 second half burst, Carson-Newman (5-4, 4-4 South Atlantic Conference) kept Wingate (6-5, 6-5 SAC) at bay in a 76-64 win Saturday evening inside Holt Fieldhouse. 

VIDEO: Chuck Benson Interview

VIDEO: Tripp Davis Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Bolstered by a 9-0 second half burst, Carson-Newman (5-4, 4-4 South Atlantic Conference) kept Wingate (6-5, 6-5 SAC) at bay in a 76-64 win Saturday evening inside Holt Fieldhouse. 

The win gives Carson-Newman its first season sweep of the Bulldogs since the 2017-18 season and its first three-game win streak since 2019. 

The teams swapped leads eight times and were tied on six occasions through the game's first 28 minutes in what was setting up to be a classic see-saw battle.  Neither team led by more than five points for the game, nor did either team lead by more than four in the second half.

Then Carson-Newman exploded.  With 12:09 to play, Miguel Priest buried a couple free throws for Wingate to get the Bulldogs within a couple 46-44.

Ren Dyer (Weaverville, N.C.) and Luke Brenegan (Greenville, S.C.) canned triples on C-N's next two possessions before Tripp Davis (Nashville, Tenn.) smooched in a runner while getting fouled in the process. After Davis' and-one free throw, Carson-Newman had raced to a 55-44 lead – its biggest of the game – in a span of 53 seconds off the 9-0 run. 

"I keep on being impressed by what I learn about our team," Carson-Newman head men's basketball coach Chuck Benson said. "We don't really have second tier players here, we have guys who are ready to do the job.  We had a Joshuwa Butts, a Tyler Bowens, a Trey Smith go in and deliver.  You always know it's going to be a tough match with Wingate and we needed to capitalize when we could. Those guys were the first domino to fall."

Wingate would get no closer than seven following that surge. The Eagles didn't allow Wingate to hit a three after halftime and the Bulldogs only shot 35.7 percent from the field after re-emerging from the halftime locker room. 

Carson-Newman also impacted the punch of the SAC's top one-two scoring threat. Jarren Cottingham and Francis Sio entered the contest combining for 36.4 points per game.  The duo scored a combined 13. Sio unfortunately exited the game after 27 minutes with an injury, finishing with eight points on 3-of-7 shooting.  He was 2-for-6 from three.

Meanwhile, Cottingham was kept to a season-low five points.  A game after scoring 22 against Lenoir-Rhyne, he was just 2-for-10 from the field and 1-for-4 from three. 

"Our guys did a great job in preparation this week in practice and in scout understanding what we were trying to accomplish," Benson said. "They knew who Wingate's go-to players were and our guys understood where they got their points. Credit to our guys, they were locked in and did the job.  That's not easily done because Cottingham and Sio are two of the best guards in this league and the best one-two punch in this league. We certainly hate that Sio got hurt and hope he makes his way back to full strength as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Davis flourished for C-N.  The senior scored a season-high 23 on 7-of-13 shooting and a 1-of-5 effort from long range. Davis also swiped four steals, all in the first half, and grabbed six rebounds.  He also threw down his first career dunk.

 

"I have never seen Tripp dunk," Benson said. "He got comfortable today. I liked the fact that we have so many different guys who can bring something like what he did tonight.  It happened to be Tripp tonight. But it might be EJ Bush, Luke Brenegan or Ren Dyer the next. It was his night tonight and I'm happy for him because we don't win this game without it."  

Davis' 23-point game is the seventh of his Carson-Newman career. 

"My legs felt good today," Davis said. "Today really started on the defensive side. Defense turned to offense, when it's like that it just makes it easier to play."

Dyer became the first Carson-Newman freshman to score double-digits in seven consecutive games since the program moved to NCAA Division II.  He came within one of his career high with a 17-point night.  Dyer splashed in a career-best five threes on eight attempts. 

Brenegan rounded out Carson-Newman's double-digit scorers.  He had 16, 11 of which came after halftime.  Brenegan went 4-for-10 from deep.

Rashaard Pringle led Wingate with a season-high 17, but he also had six turnovers. Quantra Taylor added 12 for the Bulldogs. He was 6-of-7 from the field.

Carson-Newman finished the night 11-of-26 from deep, its second game this year knocking down double-digit threes. 

The Eagles were 24-of-49 from the field, shooting 49 percent.  Carson-Newman has made at least 48 percent of its shots in four of its last five games. 

Carson-Newman forced a season-high 18 turnovers and outscored the Bulldogs 21-16 in points off turnovers. 

Carson-Newman matches wits with a top-five Lincoln Memorial team Wednesday. Tipoff between the Eagles and Railsplitters is set for 7:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network is set for 7:15 p.m. with the start of the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on The Mountain 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. 

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